Source: Cobden Centre
by Joshua Mawhorter
“This first experiment with government-issued bills of credit presents a natural historical test case for Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), particularly its claims about chartalism and the state’s role in originating money. This took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1690. Given that the US is MMT’s favorite example of a ‘monetary sovereign,’ the first issuance of government paper money in the Western world ought to be significant. Given the claims of MMT and the relatively recent, extant history of colonial America, there is surprisingly little MMT writing that addresses the Massachusetts case (though my research was, of course, limited).” (03/03/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/03/massachusetts-1690-the-first-western-fiat-experiment/